Code Reviews

Code reviews are a best practice developed back in the early 1970’s by Michael Fagan.  He was a computer hardware engineer by training and knew from experience that reviews in his previous field found quite a few defects before a hardware spec was sent to the factory to be burned onto silicon.  It was expensive to undo defects once the spec had been sent to the factory and reviews were a great tool in catching defects early.  His original paper describes the “Fagan Inspection”.

As time has gone on, more papers and books have been published on the subject; most notably Handbook of Walkthroughs, Inspections, and Technical Reviews by Daniel Freedman and Gerald Weinberg in 1990.  The best current source for how to do reviews is the IEEE Standard 1028 for Software Reviews and Audits.  Regrettably, the IEEE does not make their standards free to access, which I think diminishes their use and ultimately their importance.  In it they describe four types of reviews: a Management Review, Technical Review, Inspection, and Walkthrough.  I have taken these four descriptions and amalgamated them into a review procedure that, I think, brings the four procedures together nicely.  I post it here for your edification and use.

Code Review Policy & Procedure